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COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: Mary Giles named Ventura College interim athletic director

After 18 years on the pool deck, Mary Giles is learning on the fly again.

“I’m walking and talking, man,” Giles said.

There was no time to stand still Thursday, as Giles began her first phone interview as Ventura College interim athletic director.

The Buena High and Ventura College graduate succeeds Will Cowen, who accepted a coaching position with Florida State women’s basketball program in July.

“It’s just a great new challenge for me,” Giles said. “It’ll be a hard transition coming off a wonderful, beloved athletic director.

“I’m hoping that I can add some of my unique skills to the job to continue keeping our athletic programs in a position of excellence, like Will did.”

As she makes the sudden transition from coach to administrator, Giles has been in constant contact with her predecessor.

“When Will and I talked 10 minutes ago, he asked me, ‘So Mary, how many emails have you gotten this morning?’ ” Giles said. “It was at least 25. Will said, ‘I’ve gotten four.’

“All right Will, you rub it in.”

Cowen said Giles’ experience in coaching, teaching and managing a budget, as well as her connection to the community, made her an obvious candidate for the position.

Mary Giles has taken over as the interim athletic director at Ventura College.(Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF VENTURA COLLEGE ATHLETICS)

“She brings a wealth of knowledge in practical matters to help mentor young coaches,” Cowen said. “She’s been one of our best health professors for more than a decade. She’s been the women’s representative for the Western State Conference, so she’ll work well with the commissioner, Jerry White. And she’s an alum who’s very connected to the community.”

In 18 years as VC’s women’s water polo head coach, Giles guided the Pirates to seven Western State Conference championships and four CCCAA state Scholar Team awards. She also headed the swimming team for three seasons, including two WSC titles. Between both sports, she’s been named WSC Coach of the Year seven times.

She described the “last minute” decision to hand over her program to assistant coach Linda Wright after nearly two decades as “too hard.”

“My team is in great hands,” Giles said. “I have great assistants. That’s part of what made me accept giving up water polo.”

As Mary McDonough, Giles swam and was a member of the boys water polo team at Buena High. At Ventura College, she was an All-American swimmer for Hall of Fame coach Larry Baratte and was part of the school’s first women’s water polo club team.

At San Jose State, she was on the swimming team and played women’s water polo, captaining the team for three seasons and earning All-Western Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete honors for three straight seasons.

“Will was excellent at this and I’m going to try to be excellent at whatever I do,” Giles said.

Pirates supreme again

Giles takes over an athletic program that regained the WSC Supremacy Award earlier this month.

The 2017-18 honor is the record 20th time Ventura College has won the conference’s all-sports title and first time since 2013.

It’s also the first time VC has won the award since the WSC changed the criteria from total points to average points per sport.

The Pirates won WSC titles in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and men’s tennis in 2017-18, as well as runner-up finishes in men’s cross country, softball and women’s track.

Moorpark was third and Oxnard was 14th among the 18 WSC schools.

Kicking off

For the first time this fall, all three local college football teams were in action Thursday night.